. former president donald j. trump has beenrand jury investig hush money payments to adult film star stormy daniels. it is the first time in american history that a current or former president is facing criminal charges, and cnn is now learning that trump is expected to be arraigned. early next week. now the grand jury has been hearing evidence and witness testimony related to $130,000 that trump s former fixer, michael cohen, paid stormy daniels before the 2016 election. that money was paid in exchange for her silence about an alleged affair she had with trump now source telling cnn and this is really important information. we re just getting that trump was completely caught off guard that right now he s in florida at a mar-a-lago that he had been caught off guard and that he thought that this was sort of. maybe maybe over. maybe bragg had gotten cold feet, so he suddenly released a statement after this news broke, saying, quote. this is this is in part. it s a longer statem
house correspondent phil mattingly is over at the white house. so what s been the reaction over there? phil you know wolf, as you know, quite well. there s really two bedrock principles of president biden and his administration. it s don t weigh in on ongoing legal cases. and don t get distracted by whatever the explosive news item is of the day stay focused on their agenda, their schedule their plans. obviously that means they are not going to weigh in or at least at this point, don t have any plans to weigh in on what the reporting has been throughout the course of the night. now it is worth noting, especially given what john was laying out just now they are paying attention on security side of things, but no plan for the president or his team to weigh in anytime soon. we ll watch it very closely and to our viewers. thanks very much for watching. i m wolf blitzer in the situation room are special. live coverage continues right now with erin burnett outfront. this is cnn breaking news
military. nato now estimating that as many as 15,000 russian troops have been killed on the battlefield. our correspondents are on the front lines in ukraine and at key locations here in europe and the united states, as putin s warheads into a second month. we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. i m wolf blitzer in brussels and you re in the situation room. we re live at the european union headquarters here in brussels. where president biden has just arrived for urgent meetings with key allies as europe faces its worst military and refugee crisis since world war ii. cnn s senior correspondent phil mattingly begin our coverage. the stakes could hardly be
the wall, the greater of severity of the tactics he may employ. reporter: as the white house urge endly works to shift the dynamic on a conflict that shows no signs of abating. it will be hardest for the ukrainian troops on the front lines and the civilians under russian bombardment. this war will not end easily or rapidly. reporter: and wolf, u.s. officials are confident there will be in the words of national security adviser jake sullivan a substantial set of outcomes after the meetings tomorrow. where one of the overarching pushes over the next 24 hours to maintain that unity that has been almost unprecedented on the western side, over the last month, in the words of jake sullivan, for as long as it takes, wolf. phil mattingly in brussels, thank you very, very much. things are moving very quickly. we re learning new details of the scope of russian casualties in ukraine.
jake sullivan laying out details and also making clear that the u.s. while shocked was not surprised by the actions they have seen of the atrocities and b bucha saying they predicted that as well. he s not talking about weeks. they are looking at months underscoring the need. more lethal weapons are expected in the days ahead. looks like it is going to go on and on. phil mattingly at the white house. thank you very much. just ahead we are getting new insights right now to the next days of russia s war against ukraine. i will ask a key member of the house intelligence committee what he s learning. we ll be right back. personali, browse foror cars that fit your budget, then cusustomize your downpayme and monthly payment. and these aren t made up numbmbers, it s what you ll really pay, right down to the penny.